Beach Energy Ltd., Adelaide, has found oil with the first horizontal well drilled in its Cooper-Eromanga basin Western Flank acreage.
The company reported that the Bauer-26 development well in its 100%-owned permit exPEL91 drilled a lateral section of 400 m targeting the McKinlay Member, which is a thin sandstone overlying the Namur Sandstone.
Bauer-26 intersected a net oil pay of about 350 m. The well has now been completed for production and will be brought on stream as free-flow production during the next two months. Artificial lift is scheduled for installation by the end of this year.
The McKinlay is a proven oil reservoir in the Eromanga, but it has not previously been subjected to focused development. Beach believes the formation is suitable for geo-steered horizontal drilling and has potential for high daily production rates.
Beach says that well results along with other studies now under way will set the scope and design for development of the McKinlay reservoir during 2018.
